Consortium Approach To Cardiff City: Trust Chair Gives His V

Trust chair Keith Morgan, a football finance expert, writes to members in the wake of the reported interest of a Gareth Bale fronted consortium in buying at least a share in Cardiff City FC.

There has been considerable discussion on social media recently about a bid to acquire Cardiff City FC from current owner Vincent Tan. The situation seems to be somewhat confusing but the actual position appears to be as follows:

Claims that an actual bid by a US based consortium has been made are a bit misleading. As a result of a conversation the Trust has had with the club at board level it seems that no formal bid has been made for the club to consider. Rather, a notice of intention to make such an offer was delivered direct to owner Vincent Tan who seems to have had little interest in it and, in the absence of an actual bid, the matter was not progressed further. The board have confirmed that no bid has been received and that one is not anticipated.

In a very recent Sky Sports interview Gareth Bale stated that he would be interested in being involved with a consortium looking to acquire the club but didn’t claim that an actual bid had been made. He said that something might happen in the future but put no timescale on it.

The consortium seem to have to date just started what I would call a “fishing trip”. i.e put some bait on a line to various football clubs (Plymouth Argyle have been mentioned to date but there may have been others) to see if any of them take a “bite” by showing an intent to explore the matter further.

I have taken soundings from some of my former business colleagues in the accountancy world (some of them having football advisory experience) and their view, and one that might be shared by the owner, is that it would be inadvisable to consider a sale of the club at the moment for a number of reasons, including the following

As a consequence of last season’s relegation the club’s income from TV/media rights and the solidarity payments through the EFL agreement with the Premier League has dropped by a total of approximately £10m. This obviously impacts on the selling value of the club.
The formal hearing in the ongoing legal claim against FC Nantes is due to be held in just a few months time in September with a ruling laid down by the end of this calendar year. If the claim is successful (and there is great optimism that it will) then the club could benefit by many millions of pounds. This would significantly increase the value of the club.
In summary, the position remains uncertain. The Trust will continue to provide updates and commentaries if and when the situation changes

Keith Morgan

Chair

One mans "fishing trip" is another's "Gareth Bale is on live TV with his direct intentions coming out of his own mouth".

So there’s been no first bid? Then why are media outlets like Talksport and sky asking Bale if he’s the interested in going back in for a 2nd bid?

Why would he say it's "inadvisable to consider a sale" when we don't know what Tans intentions are for the coming season??

The trust is irrelevant.

has the club maybe told Keith to put this statement out to simmer down all the fans expectations?

sounds like Tan doesn't want to sell (at least not yet)

Tan probably just wants to see if we can get promotion back to championship first so he can get better deal

hopefully I'm way off (I am just speculating)

show the colour of your money we can all talk bids

Inadvisable to sell at this time due to relegation.

No shit Sherlock, but poor business decisions reduce value, so he only has himself to blame.

Just like stocks and shares, at some point you have to put a 'stop loss' in place or one day you will wake up and you've gone under.

Inadvisable to sell at this time due to relegation.

No shit Sherlock, but poor business decisions reduce value, so he only has himself to blame.

Just like stocks and shares, at some point you have to put a 'stop loss' in place or one day you will wake up and you've gone under.

Said previously tan is taking a gamble on getting promotion if he fails club is worth less than it is now! Does he want to take that risk that's the question?

No disrespect intended for Kieth or the trust, but more "I am told" speculation.

Surely a fishing exercise is Abbo informing certain people to "keep it quiet, but i am told" and let the rumour grow on social media and forums, but for a superstar to openly say he is pursuing the intent to buy Cardiff city is a little different.

It's a bit strange because it's the buyers who normally want to keep it secret to stop a bidding war if they are lowballing.

Inadvisable to sell at this time due to relegation.

No shit Sherlock, but poor business decisions reduce value, so he only has himself to blame.

Just like stocks and shares, at some point you have to put a 'stop loss' in place or one day you will wake up and you've gone under.

Said previously tan is taking a gamble on getting promotion if he fails club is worth less than it is now! Does he want to take that risk that's the question?

if it was anyone else I'd say they wouldn't take that risk but this is Tan

the same Tan that threw away Premier league football because him and Malky argued over a gk not doing striker training

No disrespect intended for Kieth or the trust, but more "I am told" speculation.

Surely a fishing exercise is Abbo informing certain people to "keep it quiet, but i am told" and let the rumour grow on social media and forums, but for a superstar to openly say he is pursuing the intent to buy Cardiff city is a little different.

It's a bit strange because it's the buyers who normally want to keep it secret to stop a bidding war if they are lowballing.

I thought why would Bale say something on city when didn't on plymouth? More like Tan telling trust a story which gets out ....but in reality there is movement behind scenes... as for bidding war that suites tan because such things mean higher bids.

Money talks at the end of the day.

There may not have been a bid as of yet, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be.

I’ll remain optimistic.

I think its a negative post by the Trust, who are afraid of losing their status once Tan goes. I think these show the Trusts true colours.

I believe the fans need positive talk at the moment, even if things don't actually progress at speed, the fans need hope.

The statement, to me, looks like a thinly veiled defence of Tan by the Trust.

I've read this and re-read this a few times before I've replied.

I am still a bit confused about why a statement like this was necessary or decided upon by the Trust.

They could have just said "we are encouraged by Bale's comments and wait to hear more in the future."

Although they make a few fair points, this statement looks like they're doing Tan's PR for him. Personally I don't think that's how they want to be seen.

But that's the image they're projecting to some of us with that statement.

I've read this and re-read this a few times before I've replied.

I am still a bit confused about why a statement like this was necessary or decided upon by the Trust.

They could have just said "we are encouraged by Bale's comments and wait to hear more in the future."

Although they make a few fair points, this statement looks like they're doing Tan's PR for him. Personally I don't think that's how they want to be seen.

But that's the image they're projecting to some of us with that statement.

The statement does seem misplaced and not necessary.

It feels like a poor media piece with the sources being accountants not linked to the club giving their opinion. It goes to then say that the owner MAY share the same view!!!!

Not very well sourced information for an official trust statement.

I've read this and re-read this a few times before I've replied.

I am still a bit confused about why a statement like this was necessary or decided upon by the Trust.

They could have just said "we are encouraged by Bale's comments and wait to hear more in the future."

Although they make a few fair points, this statement looks like they're doing Tan's PR for him. Personally I don't think that's how they want to be seen.

But that's the image they're projecting to some of us with that statement.

The statement does seem misplaced and not necessary.

It feels like a poor media piece with the sources being accountants not linked to the club giving their opinion. It goes to then say that the owner MAY share the same view!!!!

Not very well sourced information for an official trust statement.

They're just saying while an accountant thinks it is not a good time to sell tan may have the same view? Said this previously does tan gamble and hope get promoted or does he sell at a lower price than if in championship? That's what they are cermising

The trust is irrelevant.

Agreed Clowns like Tan

His puppets

Funny they could not get answers to two letters

But put this out for Tan less than 24hrs after Bale speaks

Tans puppets